The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1887-08-11
OUR FARMER FRIENDS.
Making the Farm Pay.

HOY to make farm pay is the
great conundrum which every land
holder often asks himself, and not in
frequently, in despair, he gives it up.
Land, says that practical writer, 10
seph Allen, often fails to produce
good crops, not because the laborers
have been awkward in their work OF
blowing and cultivating the crop, but
because they did not know and fully
understand the relation of the soil to
the crop. Continued hard daily labor
without an educated judgement direct
ing and applying correct principles,
may make fair crops, but it wi Z. not
produce the best results; it vii not
make the land produce all that it is
capable of yielding. One fault with
the farmers is, when any crop or a
special kind of stock is paying larger
per cent. of profit than any other
stock or grain, they Immediately turn
their attention almost exclusively to
that special product or stock, until the
supply exceeds the demand, and, as
consequence, prices decline below the
cost of production.
Farmers should notice the signs Of
these changes and revolutions in prl-
ces of the different commodities. They
then could to some extent avoid all
the extremes When any kind of
grain or stock pays an extremely high
per cent of profit, they should not
give all their attention to that spe
cial object and, on the other hand,
when any article is selling at or below
cost Of oduction, they should not
discontinue its cultivation or produ :
ton altogether, but they should avo d
all the extremes, and they will hud
in the final outcome they will be more
successful. There is no one special
system of farming, either in grain or
stock, that will give large per cent.
of profit each year on the capital in
vested and labor performed. The on
ly safety for the farmer of this coun
try is in mixed husbandry and rota-
ton of crops.
1t should be the aim to have some
thing in return for every stroke that
is made and for every dollar invested.
Even when only few house plants are
cared for, we expect to see growth
and bloom to repay for their care.
1t requires some nerve to pick off
one-half or more of the fruit which
sets on productive tree, but one of
our orchardists who raise early apples
obtains double price for them by thin
ming when small and then sorting
them into three grades when sent to
market Remove all inferior speci-
mems of pears before they exhaust the
tree in ripening. Peaches are often
ruined in quality as well as reduced
in size by Observation-Disclosures
Garden.
The following is given as a good
preparation for the destruction of the
beetle, or potato bug: Take three
pounds of lime, slake, and add six to
eight gallons of water, and table
spoonful of concentrated lye. Mix
all together and apply to the vines
with common sprinkler. 1t will
work like charm, one or two appli-
cations completely Kidding the patch
of the beetles and larva.
This week tobacco is bringing good
prices and the breaks have been larg-
er than usual. There has been a
steady advance in the prices of the
better grades, while the lower has had
a sudden rise Of a hundred and fifty
or two hundred per cent over prices
ruling a month ago. Bring your to-
bacco to Winston.
The Raleigh papers are very COM
plimentary in their notice of the ex-
hibit at the Grape Show, of Mr.. N.
". Craft, of Shore, Yadkin county.
The Chronicle says: "Mr. Craft made
an admirable display not only of
grapes OF many varieties, but of wines
as WE'LL" We are glad to see our
western men showing their fruit at
Raleigh and elsewhere. We want
more fruit and more grass and less
common, shoddy tobacco.
The Hon. o. B. Potter, New
Yorker, who slevotes some attention to
farming in Westchester county, tells
the Husbaadmas of new way of en-
Staging corn. The twenty five to for
ty acres of corn raised in the common
way had been previously cut up and
stocked in the usual manner, and af.
ter husking, the stalks were cut and
moistened in winter for feeding. By
the new method, the corn as soon as
ripe enough was husked in the field,
and the ears spread a foot deep on
successive shelves with grated bottoms
to dry, and as fast as husked the
stalks were cut and ensilaged. There
was still enough juice in the stalks to
secure the needed fermentation. IF,
however, they were very dry, water
was added. All was eaten greedily.
The labor required for ensiIaging and
harvesting these stalks was found to
be about half as much as to secure
them in bundles and dry them, while
their value. as Mr.. Prtter believes,
was doubled.
Young man, said long haired
passenger, solemnly, do you drink
- 4.